Govt hikes gas prices for industries, effective from 1 February

The government has hiked the gas price for industries, power production, hotels, and restaurants. The new prices will be effective from 1 February.

However, the price of gas used for household, fertilizer production, CNG-run vehicles, and tea gardens will remain unchanged, according to a gazette notification issued today.

A gazette notification announcing the new rates was issued by the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources on Wednesday (18 January).

With the latest development, the price of gas used for power generation will increase from the current Tk5.02 to Tk14 per cubic metre.

According to the notification, for large industries, the rate is going up to Tk30 from Tk11.98.

Moreover, the price of gas for captive power plants will rise to Tk30 from Tk16.

In medium industries, the new rate will be Tk30 from Tk11.78, and for hotels and restaurants, and other commercial entities, the new price will be set at Tk30.50 from the existing Tk26.64 per cubic metre.

However, the price of gas used in the fertilizer factories remains unchanged at Tk 16 (per unit).

This is the second time the government has used its newly-granted authority to adjust the power and gas prices without a public hearing.

In June last year, Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) raised the average price of gas by 22.78% for retail consumers.